


the way the world ends

by spendeonswithyou



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, One Shot, Post Season 3, no happy ending, this is pretty sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 22:36:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8262917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spendeonswithyou/pseuds/spendeonswithyou
Summary: They did everything they could, but they failed anyway.At least they tried, she tells herself.At least they tried.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The title and the quotes come from "The Hollow Man" by T. S. Eliot (go read it, it's really amazing).  
> I had an idea for this fic for a few weeks and I finally found some time to write it; I didn't mean for it to turn out this sad, but I somehow always gravitate towards writing angst.  
> This story is dedicated to my friend, Patrycja, who wanted me to write a bellarke story with an "I love you" included for a long time.  
> Dear Pati, I'm not sure if that's what you had in mind. Sorry.

__

  
The eyes are not here  
There are no eyes here  
In this valley of dying stars  
In this hollow valley  
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

  


There are many things you could say about Sky People. You could consider them brave and heroic, selfless or selfish, or perhaps reckless, or maybe all at once. They had their flaws, but you couldn’t say they didn’t try.  


Because they tried. They tried so hard.  


And they hoped, oh, how much they hoped, yet all of that for nothing.  


All the time on the Earth, spent on constantly fighting for their lives – against other people, against technology, against all odds. All of that, just to be taken down by the damn radiation, the thing that kept them in space and the same thing that made them come back.  


Finally, Kane gathers them together – not all of them, only the ones that are left. By the look on his face, and the glimpse of tears in her mother’s eyes she barely notices, Clarke can already tell something is wrong. She meets Bellamy’s gaze, just to see him as concerned as she is.  


Kane clears his throat. “I think you already figured out things are not okay. That they haven’t been for a long time, but today I am sure of it more than ever before.”  


Clarke reaches for Bellamy’s hand as she hears these words, and he wraps his fingers around hers. As if he wanted to say that _we’ll make it, just as we always do_.  


Or maybe they can’t always make it.  


“We failed.” Kane’s words are met by dead silence, and as he pauses, no one dares to interrupt. Clarke can feel her hands starting to shake.  


“We realized that there is no way to stop the radiation. Raven and the rest of the team couldn’t figure anything out, and we ran out of time. The first effects of the radiation sickness are already showing.”  


Clarke clutches to Bellamy’s hand as if it is the only thing that’s keeping her alive, and perhaps it is. His fingers tighten around hers.  


“We have a week left,” Kane finally says. “Or maybe even less. As much as I hate to say this, I’d recommend you to start closing your things and saying your goodbyes.”  


No one says a word, and Clarke can feel a single tear on her cheek. She doesn’t even bother to wipe it off. It doesn’t matter right now.  


“That was all I wanted to say. Thank you.”  


People are starting to leave, and soon she and Bellamy are the only ones left.  


“I can’t believe it,” Bellamy says after a few minutes they spent in silence. “We are sent to the Ground and we spent months fighting for our lives, and now we are all just going to die.”  


“I know,” she has no idea what to say, because there are no words at this moment. “I know.”  


They did everything they could, but they failed anyway.  


 _At least they tried_ , she tells herself.  


At least they tried.

  


* * *

  


Everything becomes a countdown.  


_Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock._   


Another step, another second, another minute. Closer and closer. The last trip to the woods, the last campfire, _another, another, the last_ , until there is nothing more.  


It’s hard to live when everything reminds you that the world is ending and there is nothing you can do about it.  


It isn’t until a few days later that Bellamy decides that even if they have no time, he still has to live anyway. At least as much as he can.  


So he finds Clarke, and for once, he decides to be completely honest, because soon he won’t have a chance and he doesn’t want to die knowing he never said anything he wanted to.  


“I love you,” the words come out natural, because it’s something that’s always been there, and he just never tried to say it out loud. “And maybe it doesn’t matter now, because we’re running out of time, but I want to die happy, and I want to die with you by my side.”  


And when she kisses him, all the broken pieces of them fall back together. It’s like she’s telling him all the things she never had a chance to say, it’s lips melting together, fingers tangled in hair, a hand wrapped around waist, a soft touch, and fire, and passion, everything at once. Together, they both know they will at least die happy.  


“We have all the time in the world,” Clarke whispers. “All of it belongs to us, so we should use as much of it as we possibly can.”  


And they use it, not letting anything go to waste. They live at the fullest.  


And they smile, and they laugh, and they love.  


And they die.

  


__  
This is the way the world ends.  
This is the way the world ends.  
This is the way the world ends.  
Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

**Author's Note:**

> [You can find me on tumblr](https://spendeonswithyou.tumblr.com), feel free to send me prompts or just cry about fictional characters.  
>  Feedback is appreciated! <3


End file.
